


Among the Flames

by PrincipalCellist



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, This can be romantic or platonic, but mainly the manga, follows a mixture of manga and anime
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-22
Updated: 2020-01-22
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:47:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,193
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22354351
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrincipalCellist/pseuds/PrincipalCellist
Summary: I know, I know -everyonedoes the fire scene. I posted this ontumblrback in 2017 and I figured I might as well put it here, too. It's short and angsty, but it's something Ihadto write because this scene, thinking about how Yami must have reacted to it during, always gets to me.
Kudos: 25





	Among the Flames

_What are you doing?_

The question ran around his head like a merry-go-round of panic, like a dry wheel letting out a persistent metal screech: _what are you doing? what are you doing? What—_

At first, he didn't know what had happened; he remembered being taken away, a stranger had yanked him away from his partner and - yes. That was it. The puzzle had been stolen away and the spirit had tried to call out to his partner and then… And then…! Nothing. A shattering. A blankness until, bit by bit, he gained his awareness and assembled his thoughts again. And now he was stuck here, listening as the world around his partner blazed, but unable to do a thing to stop it.

Fingers, gentle and methodical, picking up, turning over, and pushing piece by piece of the Puzzle back into their place with unhurried precision. The familiar noise of eight years filling Yami's ears like a lullaby - a promise of life, like a heartbeat heard from inside the womb. Something amazing and magical and light. It was a strange feeling for that sensation of coming together, of joy and hope, to come back when everything was going up in ashes.

 _Get out, you idiot!_ The Spirit screamed, somehow feeling it shred his throat even when no sound came from him- but he knew it was futile. Without the Puzzle complete, he had no form, no voice. He was helpless. _Get out!_ He yelled regardless. He begged - _Save yourself! There is no point in dying like this!_ Yugi was flesh and blood and a beating heart and he was fading - _you deserve to live!_

The metal of the puzzle wouldn't burn. Pure gold doesn't melt that easily. It would be fine - _he_ would be fine. Yami would survive. Yugi could just come back and find the pieces among the charcoal and smoke and put the Puzzle back together later, when he was safe and able to take his time, and yet - _and yet—!_

Yugi’s first impulse was to save him. To grab all the scattered pieces and put them back together, even before figuring out how to get himself to safety. The newfound tenderness that had been budding in the spirit’s chest before, small and hesitant, burst into a flame of it’s own. _You soft-hearted idiot!_ The spark roared to life like the fire around them in a fierce, desperate anger as the puzzle was completed, but Yami couldn't feel his partner's soul brushing against him.

_What are you doing?!_

* * *

As he sat on the hospital bed, Yugi didn’t need a mind link to know that the spirit was annoyed with him. No, not annoyance…that wasn't the right word for the directionless, sharp colors he could feel from the other's soul. It was a feeling he couldn't name, but he definitely recognized the disapproval rolling over him, wave after wave. They had talked before, when Yugi first awoke after being carried out of the fire, but the spirit was nothing but polite to Yugi. A clipped friendliness, something very calculated hidden beneath his words. And Yugi in turn had just been so relieved and grateful that Yami was okay that he didn't question it. In the end, it didn’t matter how Yami tried to pretend. Without having to say it, Yugi knew the spirit was upset. Maybe even angry.

When Yugi finally confronted him about it, all he got was a _Why would you endanger yourself like that?_ , the question hot and short in tone. The implied "you're an idiot" very clear.

And maybe he was one, but at the time all Yugi could think about was bringing the spirit back, desperate to see him again. If aching lungs and a burnt body was what he had to live with to save Yami, it was worth it.

_Is it really?_

Yugi sighed, hand automatically raising to cup where the Puzzle lay against his chest, trying not to reply to the spirit with his own scathing retort. “Of course it is,” he replied instead.

 _In that fire, you did something incredible. You solved the Puzzle in mere minutes…to save me._ Yugi felt a rush of gratitude wash over him, but it was quickly followed by more of that colored emotion. _It was also incredibly stupid of you. You could've gotten hurt much worse or you could have - you could have—!_ the words choked off, a new feeling that felt very much like grief crossing over their bond as the spirit struggled with himself. 

Yugi stared out of the window, watching as the sun fell lower to the horizon, casting a warm orange glow over the cityscape.  
"I'm sorry," He finally said. "For letting Otogi trick me… For letting him break you apart. For staying in the fire and making you worry."

 _You think I blame you for any of this?_ Yami sounded affronted, but Yugi felt his confusion. _If anything, it is I who should be apologizing to you. If it weren't for me, you would have never even—_

“Bakura…" Yugi began, cutting over his other self's depreciation, "he once said to me that whoever solves the Puzzle has the duty to awaken the lost memories of the Pharaoh…” He paused, taking a small breath. “Is that who you are? Are you…a Pharaoh?”

For a long moment there was just silence and Yugi almost dismissed his question and changed the subject, content to go along with whatever the Spirit was comfortable with. Before he could, the spirit gave a long ringing sigh and Yugi knew that he fully intended to answer the question, but didn’t exactly know how.

 _My name…even where I’m from… I don’t know._ There was a bottomless emotion coming across the link, something akin to sadness, but deeper. In a rush, Yugi regretted bringing it up. _All I know is that I exist because you solved the Puzzle._

“Okay, stop.” He really wasn’t ready for this. Not yet. “We can stop talking about this. It’s almost time for me to get discharged from the hospital anyway. Let’s go find Jounouchi and–”

_I want to be with you. Even if I never recall my memories - it doesn’t matter._

In that moment, Yugi’s heart split into two pieces. One part floated up into the air, lifted with the current of joy that the spirit felt the same way he did. “Me, too. I’ll - I’ll give all of my memories to you, so…”

The tears running over his cheeks were not from the same happiness. They betrayed something else entirely; the second part of his heart that had plummeted to his feet. Because the spirit’s words had confirmed something else that Yugi never wanted to concider, that he desperately wished weren't true: they could not stay together forever. They both knew it. It was in the very nature of the Puzzle's magic, in the locked away memories that Yami couldn't find, in the grim, desolate feeling that passed back-and-forth between the two over the link, their emotions syncing up and amplifying the pain two-fold.

It _did_ matter. It mattered more than anything and fate would not let them ignore it.


End file.
